by SIMON ROGERSON

A Conservative councillor is facing accusations of sexual discrimination from a pregnant party worker over claims that he tried to edge her out of her job.

It is feared that, as well as proving an embarrassment to Harrow Tories, the suit brought by Tracey Johnstone could cost council tax payers up to £150,000. Although working for the Conservative group at the Civic Centre, Mrs Johnstone is employed by the council.

Mrs Johnstone's complaint hinges around a letter from Councillor Clive Scowan (Harrow Hill) to Conservative group leader Councillor Christine Bednell, in which he suggested that the party should replace her.

"News of her condition reinforces that view," he wrote, adding that the group would not want an assistant who would spend long periods on maternity leave.

The letter was accidentally intercepted by Mrs Johnstone who found its contents so distressing that she left the office on sick leave and contacted her lawyers. She is currently on maternity leave, expecting the birth within the next few months.

A flurry of confidential legal negotiation ensued, in which Councillor Scowan was asked by the council's solicitor, Gerald Balabanoff, to indemnify the authority against any financial losses sustained as a result of the note. The correspondence culminated in an apology by Councillor Scowan.

"I am willing to do what Mrs Johnstone's solicitor, I believe, asked for, namely to apologise unreservedly to her for the hurt she obviously sustained from reading the note, and to explain to her the context in which it was written which, had she been aware of it at the time, would I believe have reduced the degree of hurt experienced," he wrote.

Councillor Scowan refused to indemnify the authority against any losses, but has devised a plan to protect his own party's funds. He has offered to reduce the financial impact of any settlement on the Conservative group by paying several thousand pounds into its budget "against compensation for hurt feelings".

Officially, Harrow Council will say only that it is aware of pending tribunal proceedings, for which no date has been set. Councillor Scowan said: "The accusation about dismissing her because she was pregnant, or using her pregnancy as an excuse to get rid off her, is simply not true."

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